Summer Pudding
- 2 lbs mixed berries (cherries, strawberries, raspberries, red currants, black currants, blackberries, blueberries)
- 12 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 12 cups sugar
- 8 slices dense white bread, several days old
- 1 sprig of fresh mint, for garnish
- clotted cream
- Prepare the fruit by stoning and halving the cherries, removing stems from the red and black currants, and hulling and quartering the strawberries.
- Keep each type of fruit separate at this stage.
- In a large heavy-bottomed pan add the cherries, water, vanilla paste, and sugar over a low heat, and stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Let the cherries simmer until they start to soften.
- Add the strawberries and blackberries and stir; simmer 2 to 3 minutes, and then add the blueberries, red currants, black currants, and finally the raspberries.
- Remove from the heat, and carefully strain the fruit into a colander, reserving the poaching syrup in a separate bowl.
- Cut the crusts off the bread, and cut a circle from 1 slice of the bread to fit the bottom of the pudding basin.
- Dip the bread into the poaching syrup and place it into a 1-quart pudding basin or souffle dish.
- Cut all but 2 of the remaining 7 bread slices in half, dip them into the syrup, and line the sides of the basin, overlapping each piece slightly.
- Once the basin is completely lined, spoon the fruit into the center and fill the basin to the top.
- Place the 2 remaining pieces of bread on top of the fruit.
- Place a saucer that fits snugly inside the basin on top of the bread.
- Weigh down the top of the pudding by placing something like a large can of tomatoes on top of the saucer.
- Refrigerate 6 to 8 hours or overnight along with any remaining poaching syrup.
- Run a spatula around the edges of the pudding, and invert it onto a serving plate.
- Pour the remaining syrup over the top, and allow the syrup to run down the sides.
- Garnish with sprigs of mint and serve with the clotted cream.
mixed berries, water, vanilla bean paste, sugar, white bread, mint, cream
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/summer-pudding-237377 (may not work)